Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife
 | Princess Arthur of Connaught |
| |
Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edwina Louise Duff) (
17 May 1891-
26 February 1959) was a member of the
British Royal Family, a granddaughter of
King Edward VII. Alexandra, and her younger sister,
Maud, had the distinction of being the only female-line granddaughters of a British Sovereign to receive the title of
Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and the style
Highness.
Alexandra was born at East Sheen Lodge,
Richmond,
London on
May 17,
1891. Her father was
Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife (
1840 -
1912), the son of
James Duff, 5th Earl Fife and his wife, the former Lady Agnes Hay. He was created
Duke of Fife following marriage to Alexandra's mother,
Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife (née Princess Louise of Wales), the eldest daughter of
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and
Alexandra of Denmark.
As a female line great-granddaughter of the British monarch, (
Queen Victoria), Alexandra was not entitled to the title of a
Princess of Great Britain or the style
Royal Highness. Instead she was styled
Lady Alexandra Duff, as the daughter of a
Duke. She was fourth in the
line of succession at the time of her birth.
Lady Alexandra's father had been created Duke of Fife and Marquess of MacDuff in the peerage of the United Kingdom two days after his marriage to Princess Louise of Wales in
1889. When it became apparent that the couple were unlikely to have a son, Queen
Victoria created him Duke of Fife and Earl of MacDuff in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1900. The second dukedom of Fife had a special remainder in default of male issue to the Duke's daughters and their male descendants.
On
5 November 1905, King Edward VII declared her mother
Princess Royal. He further ordered Garter King of Arms to gazette Lady Alexandra Duff and her sister Lady Maud Duff as
Princesses of Great Britain and Ireland with the style and attribute of
Highness and precedence immediately after all members of the
British Royal Family bearing the style of
Royal Highness. From that point,
Her Highness Princess Alexandra of Fife, held her title and rank, not from her father (a Duke), but rather from the will of the Sovereign (her grandfather).
In December 1911, the Fife family were shipwrecked off the coast of
Morocco. Although they escaped unharmed, Alexandra's father fell ill with
pleurisy, probably contracted as a result of the shipwreck. He died at Assuan, Egypt in
January 22 1912, and Princess Alexandra, succeeded to his Dukedom, becoming the
Duchess of Fife and Countess of Macduff in her own right.
Alexandra began a relationship with
Prince Christopher of Greece around
1910. He was a son of
Olga Konstantinovna of Russia and
George I of Greece, and thus, as the son of a younger brother of her maternal grandmother, Alexandra's
first cousin once removed. Although Alexandra and Christopher hoped to be married, the engagement was terminated when disapproving parents learned of the liaison.
On
15 October 1913, Princess Alexandra married
Prince Arthur of Connaught, her cousin once removed, at the
Chapel Royal,
St. James's Palace,
London. Prince Arthur of Connaught was the only son of
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third eldest son of
Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As such Alexandra and Arthur were first cousins once removed. This was only the second marriage to occur between a Prince and Princess of the United Kingdom (the first being
Prince William Frederick and the
Princess Mary.)
After their marriage, Alexandra was generally referred to as
HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught, or in some documents
HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught (Duchess of Fife). This followed the tradition of a wife taking the style and title of her husband, even although Alexandra was a peeress in her own right.
With her husband, Alexandra also carried out royal engagements on behalf of her uncle,
King George V and later her cousin,
King George VI. She also served as a
Counsellor of State between
1937 and
1944.
During
World War I, Princess Arthur of Connaught served as nurse at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington. When Prince Arthur was appointed
governor general of the
Union of South Africa in 1920, she accompanied him to Pretoria and worked on behalf of local hospitals. Upon the couple's return to Britain, she continued to carry out royal duties. She died at her home near
Primrose Hill,
London in 1959 and was buried at
Mar Lodge chapel.
Her only son and the heir apparent to the dukedom of Fife, Alastair Arthur, died in Ottawa in 1943, a year after succeeding his paternal grandfather as 2nd Duke of Connaught. When Princess Arthur of Connaught died, the dukedom of Fife passed to her nephew,
James George Alexander Bannerman Carnegie, Lord Carnegie, the only son of her late sister
Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk.
Titles
* The Lady Alexandra Duff (1891-1905)
*
Her Highness Princess Alexandra of Fife (1905-1912)
*
Her Highness Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (1912-1913)
*
Her Royal Highness Princess Arthur of Connaught (1913-1959)
Honours
*
Royal Red Cross, 1st Class*
Dame Grand Cross of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem (elevated from Dame of Justice)
*
King George V Royal Family Order, 4th ClassHonourary appointments
* Colonel-in-chief,
Royal Army Pay Corps* Ronald Allison and Sarah Riddell, eds.,
The Royal Encyclopedia (London: Macmillan, 1991), ISBN 0333538102
* Marlene A. Eilers,
Queen Victoria's Descendants (New York: Atlantic International Publishing, 1987), ISBN 9163059649
* Alison Weir,
Britain's Royal Families: the Complete Genealogy, rev. ed. (London: Pimlico, 1996), ISBN 0712642862
